The inability to fall asleep at night or to sleep soundly throughout the night is known as insomnia.
This health challenge can be temporary and it can also be persistent. Making it harder to manage, insomnia can also be caused by many different reasons.
Insomnia that is temporary in nature is identified as is frequently classified as transient. If insomnia lasts longer than a few days or even a few weeks, it usually will be classified as permanent. Not much fun at all if insomnia is part of your nighttime life.
It is thought that women experience insomnia more often than men possibly due to the multitude of hormonal changes that women face. Insomnia often increases with age making it harder for you to fight insomnia as you are also fighting the effects of aging.
Other factors such as a sedentary lifestyle, side effects from medication, too much raging thoughts in your brain or even an underlying medical condition, such as fibromyalgia, arthritis or even asthma can all be contributing factors to insomnia.
Often time insomnia can be related to simple changes in your life that are causing disruption. Things such as a bed that is not comfortable, a storm that is causing too much noise at night, an air conditioning that is working too hard or not hard enough altering the temperature in your bedroom by just a few degrees, jet lag, changing time zones, a snoring bed partner, or even too much light pouring into your bedroom can all be causes of insomnia. Unfortunately insomnia can even be a behavior that you learn after a few sleepless nights.
When it seems that insomnia is just the passing kind, medical intervention is usually not ordered. The reason for this is because like its name suggests transient insomnia usually will pass and self correct without intervention.
However, permanent or chronic insomnia can be more serious and often requires intervention. Treatment for insomnia is based on the underlying reason behind the insomnia. It is important to find out the underlying cause of the insomnia so that proper treatment can begin. Making an appointment for evaluation by your personal healthcare provider is the first step toward finding treatment for your chronic insomnia.
This type of insomnia can be a result of too much caffeine, working varying shifts, or even narcotic abuse. Other issues such as anxiety, depression, restless leg syndrome, fibromyalgia, asthma, Parkinson’s disease can all be contributors to insomnia as well. So as you can see there are many reasons that you might regularly have difficulty getting a good night’s sleep which is why seeing your healthcare provider will help you to narrow the reasons in an effort of finding the treatment of choice.
Diagnosing insomnia can be tough since it is so subjective. What is an adequate amount of sleep for you is no where close to enough sleep for me. Insomnia can lead to poor concentration during the day and lack of productivity.
So keep a sleep journal to share with your physician when you make a visit and you will be better prepared during the visit to help your doctor pinpoint the cause and type of your insomnia. Don’t wait and think that is is ok to live with insomnia long term. Your body needs rest and insomnia for any length of time really doesn’t work for a healthy lifestyle.